LG polls: Court reserves verdict in UC-4 case

Losing candidates say PML-N candidate influenced results

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday reserved its order on a petition seeking verification of records while simultaneously requesting that the results for union council (UC) 4  Kot Hathyal Shumali be withheld.

A division bench comprising Justice Noorul Haq N Qureshi and Justice Aamer Farooq reserved the verdict after hearing arguments.

Raja Hamid Zaman and Sajjad Ali — candidates for chairman and vice chairman in UC-4 — through their counsel Raja Shafqat Khan Abbasi challenged the results and sought court intervention.

They have listed the district election commissioner, the returning officer for the UC, the district returning officer, and PML-N candidate for chairman and vice chairman Ishtiaq Ahmed Malik and Syed Ejaz Shah Gillani, as respondents.

The counsel prayed the court to declare the recounting process conducted by the respondents illegal and unlawful “as the local bodies elections in the UC were marred by serious irregularities by the PML-N candidate and his supporters”.

Abbasi alleged that Malik used coercive measures and influenced the staff at different polling stations to manipulate the results.

Abbasi said that the petitioners requested the returning officer to stop the counting process as the PML-N candidate had manipulated the result, but the respondents continued counting and announced the result.

The returning officer had lodged an FIR against Malik, indicating that the results of Wards 1 and 5 not be counted, and that Malik should be disqualified for his illegal acts.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2015.